Cosmopolitan novelist

Cosmopolitan novelist Henry James 亨利•詹姆斯 (1843—1916) 1. Life 1) a wealthy cultured family father-- an eminent philosopher and reformer brother--a famous philosopher and psychologist 2) developed a life-long friendship with Howells, who became his “moral police.“(道德榜样) 3) the cultural influence of Europe In the Harvard Law School, he read French novelists and critics. He toured England, France and Italy, and met Flaubert and Turgenev. 4). He settled down in London in 1876. In 1915 he became a British citizen. 2.James’s international theme are set against a large international background, usually between Europe and America focus on the confrontation of the two different cultures with two different groups of people representing two different value systems American personalities of innocence and unsophistication, freshness and ignorance, vulgarity (粗俗), enthusiasm simplicity and individuality European personalities of sophistication, high cultivation, over-refinement, degeneration(衰退、堕落), complexity, 所谓“国际主 题 快递公司问题件快递公司问题件货款处理关于圆的周长面积重点题型关于解方程组的题及答案关于南海问题 ”， 即欧美两种文化价值观念汇流碰撞，美国人的天真单纯和欧洲人 的颓废腐败之间形成的鲜明对比，以及由此衍生出的道德与心理困境。 American innocence Vs. European sophistication American heroes or heroines, whose innocence confronted European sophistication, either triumphed over it or were overwhelmed. 3. Literary career: three stages 1). 1865~1882: international theme •The American 《美国人》 •The Portrait of a Lady 《贵妇画像》 •Daisy Miller 《黛西米勒》 The American was popular as one of the first international novels contrasting the rising and forceful New World and the cultured but sinful Old World. The novel concerns the adventures of Christopher Newman, an essentially good-hearted but rather gauche粗鲁的, American businessman on his first tour of Europe. He is looking for a world different from the simple, harsh realities of 19th century America. He encounters both the beauty and the ugliness of Europe. Daisy Miller 黛西.米勒 1.Plot A story of a young girl traveling through Europe from New York, who never realizes that European values are different from those of her hometown. •Eventually, fresh Daisy withers and dies in Rome. (毁于欧洲世俗) •黛西?米勒是一个年轻漂亮、天真无邪的美国姑娘，长期旅居欧洲，在瑞士结识了美国青年温 特博恩，两人商定在意大利的罗马再次相会。 •但温特博恩到了罗马后没有先去拜访黛西，而是拜访了一位久居本地的相识，恰在那里遇见 了黛西。 •调皮的黛西为了惩罚他，就故意冷落地，存心与几位意大利朋友早出晚归，四处游玩。黛西 蔑视舆论的任性作法处处遭人物议，最后不幸染上了恶疾，为自己的自由奔放付出了生命的代 价。 2. Characters 1) Daisy Miller 黛茜.米勒 Daisy is often seen as representing America: young, fresh bold and unrestrained(奔放、无视任何约束), ingenuous (直率的), naïve, innocent, self-centered, untaught, •scornful of convention, • unaware of social distinctions, •utterly lacking in any sense of propriety (礼节), • unwilling to adapt to the mores(道德观念) and standards of others. • According to European values, she is flirtatious. 2) Winterbourne 温特伯恩 •A young American expatriate， •who has lived most of his life in Geneva and who has been Europeanized. He is combination ofcontradixtions(P106) 1)intellectual, well-educated, enjoying the art,not very snobbish 2)accustomed to European sophistication,keenly aware of class difference Contradictory relationship with Daisy(P107) •Regards Daisy as a mixture of puzzlement and attraction respect and irritation spontaneity and flirtation •Daisy is a novelty to him. •Her candor(frankness) and spontaneity(自发性，不受拘束) charm him, •but he is also mystified by her lack of concern for the social niceties and the rules of propriety that have been laid down by centuries of European civilization and adopted by the American community in Rome. •So He befriends Daisy and tries to save her but ultimately decides that she is morally beyond redemption. 3. international theme: Americans Abroad (P107) •the clash between the two cultures American innocence smbolized by Daisy 天真单纯 Vs European sophistication symbolized by the natives and Europeanized Americans世俗腐败 小说中欧美两种文化冲突主要表现为代表美国文化的黛茜与代表欧洲文化的本土人以及欧 洲化的美国人之间的矛盾冲突。 2). 1882~1895: inter-personal relationships and some plays •The novels and plays were poorly received but he got a better knowledge of literary techniques. 3). 1895~1900: novels and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence, then back to international theme •What Maisie Knew 《梅西所知道的》 •The Turn of the Screw《螺丝在拧紧》 •The Ambassadors 《奉使记》 •The Wings of the Dove 《鸽翼》 •The Golden Bowl 《金碗》 4. James’s literary techniques 1). “point of view” 视角 Explain the situation and character through one or several minds readers observe events and people through the consciousness of characters and participate in their experience 2)psychological analysis emphasizes the inner awareness and inward movement of characters--the founder of psychological realism--the forerunner of "stream-of-consciousness" novels 5. James’s Style a. over-elaborate(复杂精美)style b. Language: highly-refined, polished, (文雅) insightful, accurate，obscure c. Construction: complicated, intricate 6.James’s literary criticism (文学理论) an indispensable part of his contribution The Art of Fiction 《小说的艺术》 the aim of the novel is to present life Art must be related to life the artist should write about anything that concerns him, even the ugly and the commonplace "The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does attempt to represent life" Contrast between William Dean Howells, Mark Twain and Henry James Comparison of the main realists –Although Howells, James and Twain all worked for realism, there were obvious differences between them. –In thematic terms, James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society; Howells concerned himself chiefly with middle class life; Mark Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society. –Technically, Howells wrote in the vein of genteel realism, James pursued an “imaginative” treatment of reality or psychological realism, but Mark Twain’s contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of localism in American fiction, and partly through his colloquial style.